American John Kelly wins Spine Race – Barkley’s Marathon finisher battles 431km through vicious UK winter storm
- The 15th person and last person to finish the famous run in Tennessee has won the brutal winter Spine Race in the UK
American distance running ace John Kelly won the Montane Spine Race in the UK early on Thursday, one of the world’s most brutal foot races. The 431km race travels up from England into Scotland, in the dead of winter, by the Pennine Way. Participants this year were exposed to horrific conditions as Storm Brendan battered the course.
Kelly finished the Spine Race in 87 hours, 53 minutes and 57 seconds. The rest of the field was still on the course at time of publishing.
“Everything hurts. Did the last seven miles take longer than the first 35 miles on that section?” Kelly said at the finish line. “Up there, your body just decides it stops sometime.
A mountain hut near the end was the last refuge from the cold, and Kelly had to choose between pushing on and getting colder or having a break.